LEADING CRIMINAL JUSTICE RESEARCH ASSOCIATIONS PARTNER TO LAUNCH THE CRIME & JUSTICE RESEARCH ALLIANCE

New Washington, DC-based organization will help connect criminal justice experts with federal policymakers

Washington, DC – The Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS) and the American Society of Criminology (ACS) have come together to launch the Crime and Justice Research Alliance (CJRA), a new Washington, DC-based partnership to help elevate objective research on criminal justice matters. Collectively, CJRA represents more than 5,000 criminal justice scholars and research experts who will also benefit from having a more direct link to policy discussions in Washington.

CJRA will serve as a nonpartisan resource to policymakers across the political spectrum and will provide services such as summarizing published scholarly articles and identifying expert witnesses to speak to Congressional Committees, Members of Congress and Justice Department officials. Its goal is to provide objective research necessary to inform hearing questions, legislation, appropriations and other policy discussions.

“This new organization will provide the Congress, U.S. Department of Justice and other federal policymakers with a ‘one-stop shop’ of the most rigorous research and the authoritative experts to inform public debate on criminal justice issues,” said Dr. Nancy La Vigne, the chair of the CJRA board.

In addition to connecting policymakers with the latest research and experts, the Alliance will also help communicate legislative, appropriations, and policy developments in Washington to the criminal justice research and academic communities.

CJRA has launched a new website, www.crimeandjusticeresearchalliance.org, and social media accounts (Facebook.com/CJRAlliance; Twitter: @CJRAlliance) to provide an online resource for policymakers to quickly access key research and experts on a range of topics.

Additionally, CJRA has retained the Brimley Group, one of Washington’s leading government affairs firms working on criminal justice issues, to represent the organization on Capitol Hill.